[Vision2020] an important Communiqué from The No Weatherman

[Paul Rumelhart]

No Weatherman wrote:
> Obama Voted 'Present' on Mortgage Reform
> The only banking 'deregulation' in recent years was that of Fan and Fred.
> By PETER J. WALLISON
>
> If Sen. Obama had been asked for an example of "Republican
> deregulation," he would probably have cited the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
> of 1999 (GLBA), which has become a popular target for Democrats
> searching for something to pin on the GOP. This is puzzling. The
> bill's key sponsors were indeed Republicans, but the bill was
> supported by the Clinton administration and signed by President
> Clinton. The GLBA's "repeal" of a portion of the Glass-Steagall Act of
> 1933 is said to have somehow contributed to the current financial
> meltdown. Nonsense.
>   

I was curious about this, so I went to Wikipedia 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramm-Leach-Bliley_Act), which claims the 
following (paraphrased) about this bill:

- The Senate bill was introduced by Phil Gramm, the House bill by Jim 
Leach, both Republicans.
- The Senate voted on May 6, 1999, which passed along party lines (53 R 
+ 1 D in favor, 44 D opposed).
- On July 20, the House passed a different version by uncounted voice vote.
- Senate and House could not agree on a joint version of the bill
- House voted on July 30 for negotiating for protection against 
exclusionary redlining and for greater medical and financial privacy (58 
R + 182 D for, 131R + 1 D against)
- The bill moved into committee.
- Democrats agreed to support the bill after Republicans agreed to 
support the anti-redlining Community Reinvestment Act and to address 
privacy concerns.
- The agreed upon bill passed in the Senate by 90 - 8, in the House by 
362 - 57.

I haven't looked for proof that the Clinton administration supported 
this bill, but it doesn't really matter as the final vote was "veto 
proof" anyway.

So, instead of the narrative above which tries to present an image of 
two Republicans introducing a bill for Clinton, it looks a lot more like 
the Republicans wanted even more than they got, and the Democrats worked 
to compromise on some of the bill's aspects they didn't like.

Paul